Wheeler sees growth in girls lacrosse roster

Friday

The tale of the Wheeler girls lacrosse team is up and down, similar to that of the school.

In 2008, the Lions qualified for the state tournament. On May 27, 2009, Wheeler beat Old Saybrook — and hasn’t won since.

In 2010, the team dropped to the club level because of the lack of players. The Lions had enough to form a team last year, but finished 0-13-1 and once again, the scramble was on.

The tale of the Wheeler girls lacrosse team is up and down, similar to that of the school.

In 2008, the Lions qualified for the state tournament. On May 27, 2009, Wheeler beat Old Saybrook — and hasn’t won since.

In 2010, the team dropped to the club level because of the lack of players. The Lions had enough to form a team last year, but finished 0-13-1 and once again, the scramble was on.

“We weren’t sure that we were going to have a team,” Wheeler senior Amy White said, “because a lot of the girls said they weren’t sure if they were going to play.”

The loss of coach Alison Reyes for the year because of pregnancy added to the uncertainty.

Issues afoot

Such is life at Wheeler, one of the smallest public schools in the state and one that has dealt with whispers of it closing. Athletics-wise, there is the saga of whether the Lions will jump to the Constitution State Conference.

For now, the school remains open and is a member of the Eastern Connecticut Conference, and yes, there is a girls lacrosse team with a temporary head coach.

The players came up with 25 players for the team, 22 of whom still were wearing uniforms as of this week.

“We have 22 girls out of 102. That’s about a quarter of our girls playing ... it works for us,” Wheeler athletic director Ellen Turner said. “We have two sports — 15 girls are out for softball — and that means about half of our girls are playing sports. Of course, I’m happy about that.”

Wheeler senior Ashley Iorio was most happy to see nine freshman come out.

“We actually stole some people from softball,” she said with a laugh.

“We” being the team and its coach, Ashley’s father, Bob.

Seasoned hand

The elder Iorio is no newbie, having played lacrosse in high school in New Jersey. He works as a special agent for the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) — or at least he did; he retires from that job today.

“Somebody asked me what am I going to do in retirement, am I going to get a contractor job or something? I told him that I have my job for now,” Bob said.

It’s clear by the way he stalked the sideline in a scrimmage versus Westerly Tuesday that he hasn’t lost enthusiasm and is more than willing to share it with his family. His wife, Elizabeth, assists him, and Ashley is the school’s single-season record holder for goals.

“On the ride home, I get to talk about lacrosse — a lot,” Ashley said.

The senior scored 81 goals last season, breaking the school record by 10. She credited some of that success to the lack of a sophomore high school season, which gave the opportunity to play club lacrosse.

“I didn’t have a left hand,” Ashley said. “I dedicated my summer to doing pretty much everything left-handed so I could have both my hands ready to go.”

It worked. White said the best part of Ashley’s game is her ability to shoot the ball and “her running; her ability to get back and help out the team.”

Ironically, it’s the one aspect of her game that Bob would like to improve. He wants his daughter develop a “big college outside shot,” something that could help when she goes to the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., next year, where she hopes to continue playing.

“It’s not why she’s going to the Naval Academy, but she’s already talked to the coaching staff there and she would like to give it a try,” Bob said.

The goals for the Lions this season are not astronomical. Ashley said she wants to help the team and has high expectations for herself, but more realistic ones for the team.

“We want to make the state tournament, get a couple of wins — that would be nice — and just help the program,” she said.

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